Cuba


by Francisco G. Gómez August of 2007: my excitement was on overload as my friend D ( Dean Warren Schomburg ) and I caught a flight to Cancun and then another ride to Habana. It had been fifty plus years since I had visited the island when it was still […]

A Taste of Racism in Old Habana – 2007





by Francisco G. Gómez The Day of the Dead goes by many names, Día de los muertos, Day of the Ancestors, Day of the Egún, All souls Day and many other names, I imagine. For us who are from the Caribbean, or closely situated in that region by location, cultural […]

Day of the Dead Celebration



by Francisco G. Gómez Passiflora edulis, better known as Passion Fruit, is one of the most beautiful plants I have ever had the pleasure of caring for and using medicinally.  People who grew/grow up in the Caribbean use this plant to make a refreshing drink, also to treat a number […]

The Medicinal and Spiritual Properties of Passion Fruit




It took only two short years to make a Pachamama believer out of me. Not being one to seek out sages, gurus or other learned individuals who seem to be in abundance today, a very young person who sought learning from me, turned out to educate me instead. Having known […]

Of Gurus and Harvests


The Spirit of the Drum has travelled from Africa to the Caribbean to the US and is now alive in Middlesex County.  Raíces Cultural Center, A NJ Nonprofit Corporation has received a MINI grant from the Middlesex County Cultural and Heritage Commission to produce the series “The Spirit of the […]

RAÍCES CULTURAL CENTER RECEIVES GRANT: THE SPIRIT OF THE HISPANO-AFRO-CARIBBEAN ...